Power Rangers: Data Squad
by Data Sqad Red
Summary: After a Freak Accident, five Teenagers are Transformed into Power Rangers and Must Defend Cransdon City from the Evil Gideon.  But can they fight the forces of Evil and keep some part of their lives normal?
1. Boot It Up Part 1

**Authors Note: **For the 30 people who read my original story, this is a rewrite of the series that I wrote a year and abit ago. As much as I loved writing it, there were a number of things that I didn't like or hadn't worked they way I wanted them to. And I've also planned for an extra ten chapters this time, so look out for that. So I've made things more detailed, changed some things around, and I'm happy with how things have turned out so far. So now without any more interruptions, I present the new and improved…

_**Power Rangers: Data Squad**_

_**Boot It Up Part 1**_

"And another excellent maneuver from Ray Wheeler!"

Ray jumped backwards and waited for his opponent to counter attack. It was the finals of the annual Cransdon City Charity Martial Arts tournament, and with time running out, Ray knew he had to end it fast. The trouble was, the other guy was just as good as he was, and wasn't falling for the same tricks that the people in the earlier rounds had.

I_f I can just get inside his guard, even for a second._

Ray dropped down and tried to sweep his leg out from underneath his opponents feet, but as their legs collided, his opponent leant backwards, landing on his hands before pushing himself back up onto his feet.

"You've nearly got him Ray!" called his friend Johnny from the sidelines, "maybe they won't have finished sound check!"

Johnny had already changed back into normal clothes, having been knocked out in the round before, and was now sitting at the edge of his seat in a black jacket with his brown hair finishing neatly at his shoulders.

_Well, let's just hope this works._

Ray stepped forward, raising his right leg upwards in a crescent pattern, forcing his opponent to step backwards. Not wasting anytime, he then shot the same leg out for another kick forcing him to block, then quick as a flash, spun around to deliver a powerful Back-kick into his opponent's stomach, sending the boy hurling backwards and over the boundary.

"After a spectacular final round, the winner is Ray Wheeler!"

The crowd roared as Ray walked over to help his opponent up. The announcer walked into the middle of the ring to address the audience.

"We'd like to thank you all for coming today to support our local charity and watch young- hey where's he going?"

The crowd looked over to the exit to see Ray and Johnny, sports bag in hand, running off.

"Sorry!" Ray called out as he was halfway through the door, "I'll come pick up my trophy later!"

_***Data Squad***_

"They're late," Hilary decided as she looked at her watch. It wasn't like Ray to be late for anything, he was their old reliable. Even if he had something on before hand, it was his bands first gig at The Art House, and he didn't want to upset the owners by going on stage late. She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and began tying back her straight golden hair, until it all sat bunched together neatly and hung over the back of her yellow T-shirt.

"Relax, sis," Ben, her twin, told her from across the table. His hair was an identical shade to his sisters, but his just sat as a short, untamed mop that went a little bit past his ears. "He was competing in a charity event, maybe he just got further than he expected.'"

"Even I showed up on time," said the Chinese boy sitting across at the table with them in a green shirt, "and I found out this morning that I may need a new carburetor."

"Oh come on Jake it's not that far a walk." Hilary told him, rolling her eyes, "Besides you're on the football team, it'll be good for you."

"I'm just saying it's a bummer," Jake replied before looking at Ben, "Think you can look at it later?"

"I'll see what I can do. I've got to have some project while Hilary fixes my computer."

"Well maybe I'd be more inclined to if it didn't keep breaking to begin with."

"Well if you stopped installing programs that I can't use…"

"It's not that hard to use virus scanners, if you just…"

Jake just ran his hand through his spiky black hair as he looked over at the door and zoned out. As amusing as the Infamous Bickering Twins were, it could get tedious some of the time, or a lot of it. He sometimes wondered why they hung out together at all.

_Then again,_ he rationalized; _we're not exactly a normal group of friends._

He was a jock, linebacker on the school football team, and sure, he had some friends from the team, he preferred to spend time with Hilary, Ben, Johnny and Ray. Hilary Hawkins, being an absolute computer lover, seemed an odd choice in friends for a jock, but they'd been friends since elementary school, and stayed that way since. The same went for her twin brother Ben, who as Hilary put it, was completely opposite to his twin in every way. While she tended to get through tense situations with a combination of rational thought and an acid tongue, Ben was a joker, and often the reason for being in tense situations to begin with. Next was Johnny Ford, the brooding loner of the group. He'd moved to Cransdon from Reefside only a year previously, and if it hadn't been for Ray, he would have just been passed off as another moody emo kid who wanted to be left alone with his long hair and often torn jeans. While the group were still getting to know him, he'd fit in with them fast and was inseparable from them as the rest of them.

And that left Ray, who seemed to be the heart and soul of the group. If the arguments between the siblings got too tense, he'd always be the one to diffuse the situation. When Jake needed someone to practice some football moves with, Ray would gladly put up his hand to be the crash dummy. And as for Johnny, well if Ray hadn't been so willing to get to know the new kid and found that they had common interests and hobbies then he wouldn't be part of the group at all.

"…so next time you intend on making an ice cream cake, we better make sure we have a fire extinguisher near by!"

Hilary paused for a moment, searching for a thought, only to frown instead.

"Damn I've got nothing."

"Yes," Ben cheered quietly as he gave a small fist pump, "Six to Thirty two, totally catching up."

"When did you start counting?" Johnny asked as he appeared behind them and sat down.

"Since the first time he actually won," replied Hilary with an amused look on her face, before seeing that the fifth member of their group wasn't with them. "Where's Ray?"

Johnny pointed towards the stage where they all saw Ray and the rest of his band standing up on the small stage. Ray double checked the levels on his amp, then the knobs on his bright red Stratocaster, and then moved up to the microphone.

"Hey everybody, we're the Argonaughts, and we're here to play for you this afternoon."

There was small applause as the patrons greeted the new band.

"Our first song is called Everything's Alright by Motion City Soundtrack."

And with that, the band burst in to life as they played the opening bars.

**_*Data Squad*_**

High above the rooftops of Cransdon City, a large flying fortress hovered out from behind a cloud. At first glance it would have appeared to be a large block with propellers, but a closer inspection gave it a much more sinister look. The entire complex was covered in catwalks, patrolled by orange and grey mechanical foot-soldiers, each armed with powerful laser blasters. Multiple cannons faced outwards from the fortress, and other than the catwalks, the only way to see in was a small observation deck, where a tall red headed man with a hooked nose and black cloak looked menacingly down at the houses bellow.

"Where did you hide it?" he muttered to himself.

He looked at the magnificent design of the airship, which he had mostly designed himself. Now with all the finer details worked out and programmed, all his equipment was now fully operational. He walked inside and brought up the sensors on Cransdon City, knowing that if he was right, then the good Doctor would try to locate what he needed, unknowingly leading them right to it.

_If only you hadn't been so stubborn Dr. Meyers,_ he thought cheerfully to himself, _maybe then your death may have been quicker and less painful._

Suddenly a red point on the map started flashing, and the screen read: **DIGITIZER DETECTED, PREPARING TO DETECT ENERGY SPIKE.**

The man gave a sinister smile as h moved over to his thrown, and pressed an intercom button on the right hand side.

"Corax, I want you to tell Kelgar to send some Byte-Bots up here, and I want them ready to go the second I give the word. We've found it."

_Now Dr. Benson, _he thought to himself as he let out a creepy chuckle, _let's see if your plan worked out for the best._

***_Data Squad*_**

"You guys were great, really." Hilary told Ray, "You won the crowd over in seconds."

"Yeah dude," agreed Johnny, "I've had to pay to see bands that needed to work harder to win a crowd."

"So when are we gonna have to buy tickets to see you at The House of Blues?" asked Ben jokingly

"Hey we're just a cover band," replied Ray bashfully, "nothing serious. But thanks guys, it means a lot."

The five of them were sitting around the table and were some of the last people in the popular hangout. The Argonaughts gig had finished up nearly two hours beforehand, and while the band's lead guitarist, Brent Weekly, had disappeared almost immediately afterwards, Gary Porter, the bass player, and Travis Williams, the Drummer, had hung around with Ray afterwards to celebrate a successful first gig. While Gary and Travis had eventually gone home, the rest of the gang had stayed behind to hang out. The Art House was an interesting place, having been opened a few years ago by a young man who wanted to help encourage local young artists. But now it was closing time, although none of them wanted to go home just yet.

"So Jake you want me to check out your car?" Ben asked as they got outside.

"That would be great." Replied Jake, "it's going to be a pain if I have to walk everywhere."

"Oh no, whatever will you do?" laughed Johnny as they all headed to Jake's place.

While, Jake's place wasn't too far away, following the main paths would have taken twice as long as it should to get there. So as usual, the five of them took their normal shortcut through the abandoned factory district. They'd been using the route as a short cut since before the factories shut down, but most of the dangerous equipment was gone and it would still be a few more months before demolition began, they didn't see any reason to stop using it.

"Might as well use it before they put a big parking lot in our way," Ben had once said.

It was dark by the time they hit the district, not that it bothered them, they'd taken the route so many times that they were used to it. But it was when they were about halfway through that something caught their eyes. It was a dim blue light, shinning through one of the buildings windows as it flickered on and off.

"Hey guys," Johnny told them as he noticed the light, "these factories are abandoned right?"

"Yeah, people aren't meant to go in there." Ray agreed

"Well maybe it's just an inspection," Hilary suggested, "you know, making sure it's safe for demolition."

"Hmm you're right," snorted Ben, "I know I would do safety inspections at 8 o'clock at night when I can barely see anything."

"Well you've got any better ideas?"

"Let's go check it out," Jake suggested, "if it's just a dodgy light, then it's nothing to worry about, but if not…"

They all looked at Ray. For some reason they always diverted group decisions to him. What movie were they going to see, go to The Art House or go to the lake? And this was like no other. Or so he thought.

"Why not," Ray decided, "can't see any harm in it."

They crept towards the factory, careful not to make a sound. Although they were all good kids, none of them wanted to be caught trespassing on council land. But as soon as they reached the wired fence, they noticed a gaping hole.

"Okay," decided Jake, "this is weird; the fences went up when the factories closed."

"Judging from the rust it was cut a while ago," Hilary told them as she bent down to inspect the edges.

"Alright let's be careful," Ray told them, "we don't want to get in over our heads here."

They slowly snuck to the edge of the factory walls, then up the steel stairs to the door, before going through it. They found themselves on a small balcony that ran all along the wall and could look straight down into the main area of the factory. Despite the fact that the factory had not been used in some time, what was there was something none of the teens had seen before. It was some sort of machine, sitting in the middle of the factory floor, with wires sprouting out of it that each connected the machine to the ground. Not content to look from where he was, Johnny began to climb down.

"Wait what are you doing?" asked Ray

"What does it look like? I'm taking a closer look." And with that he climbed down the ladder and began to walk towards the machine. The others held their breath as he walked up and put his hand on the side of the machine in an over exaggerated manner. The other sat and waited for something to happen, none of them daring to move as the seconds slowly ticked by.

But nothing happened, and they all to let out a sigh of relief.

"I guess its okay to go over there." Ray decided and the remaining four began to climb down the ladder.

Before long the four of them had caught up to Johnny and were standing around the machine. Being able to see the machine more closely, they could tell that it was two different devices plugged into each other, one had a small blank screen and was the size of a tissue box while the one that was plugged into the ground was easily as big as a delivery crate.

"What do you think it is?" Ben asked his sister

"And how am I meant to know?"

"Because you're the techno geek of the group."

"Well I'm sorry; it sounds like somebody doesn't want to have any internet in his room again." She threatened

"I'll be good." Replied Ben in a mock whimper.

But while the twins were busy mocking each other, Johnny was busy examining the machine.

"Ah guys, I think we may have a problem." Said Johnny in a very concerned tone

They all looked at the machine. The screen that had previously been blank now had three words written on it: PULSE ACTIVATED IN: and a countdown timer, which was now set to two seconds.

Ray's eyes widened as he saw the screen

"Oh cra-!" was all he could get out before pulse of green energy burst out of the machine. Like a wave it slammed into the teens, lifting them all off their feet before sending them all hurling towards the ground.

The next thing Ray knew, he was staring up at the ceiling of the factory.

Slowly, he got to his feet to see his friends had been knocked over as well.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked as he got up and helped Hilary to her feet.

"Yeah, I think so." She replied, "What was that?"

"I have no idea," Ben replied groggily as he too began to stand, "but I don't really want to be around if it does it again."

"Were we out at all?" Johnny asked as he looked around.

"I don't know," Hilary admitted as she looked at her watch, "I don't remember seeing black and my head isn't- Hey that's weird!"

All of them looked Hilary, who was now staring intently at her wrist.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked

"My watch stopped, I swear it was working a second ago."

All four boys immediately reached into their pockets and pulled out their cell phones.

"Mines dead," Ben announced

"Mine too," Ray agreed, "What was that wave?"

"Must have been some sort of EMP." Hilary decided

Ben looked at his sister with a look of confusion

"What?"

"An Electro Magnetic Pulse. It tends to stop machinery in its tracks."

The all looked at each other, wondering what they had all stumbled onto.

"Well should we tell someone?" Jake asked, "I mean, if there's some dodgy machinery lying around spouting those EMP things, someone should do something about it."

"Yeah except we're not meant to be here," Johnny replied, "we'll get in trouble for trespassing."

"Yeah something like that would take a massive amount of power," Hilary replied, "they would've notice a spike in the grid."

"Fair enough," Jake decided, "in which case they might be sending someone over right now."

Just as Jake said that, one of the side doors opened, and fifteen human shaped…things walked into the factory and stood in front of them.

"See," Jake replied as he walked over to the newcomers, "what did I tell you."

But Ray could already see Jake's mistake, as well as sense the danger they were all in. Something about the new arrivals felt so…menacing.

"Ah Jake," he began, "I don't think that-"

"Sorry for trespassing Mr. Council-Worker sir," Jake started as he began to try an sweet talk the new comers, "there seems to be a misunderstanding here, you see my friends and I here, well we were in the area and-"

"Give us the Digitizer!" ordered one of them in a monotonous and metallic voice.

"Digitizer?" Jake question "Not quite sure what that is, maybe you can describe it to me?"

But before Jake could say anymore, one of the humanoids stepped forward and slammed its fist into Jake sending the boy flying backwards into his friends.  
>"You will pay dearly for crossing our master, Lord Gideon."<p>

The five of them backed together, frightened by the strange creatures.

"Dude are you okay?" Johnny asked Jake, not taking his eyes off the creature.

"Yeah I'm fine." Jake replied as he got to his feet to huddle next to his friends, "What are these things?"

"They sound like robots," Hilary suggested, "Did I really just say that?"

"You? Crazy theory?" replied Ben, also not averting his gaze, "remind me to laugh about it later."

"Assuming there is a later," added Johnny, "Ray, got a plan?"

Ray had been silent the whole time, trying to think of a smart way out of this. He knew the best way was the door behind them, and they could probably all make it outside, from there it was simply a case of splitting up and losing whoever was on their tail. But there was something about the small box on top of the machine. He'd guessed that that was what the robot things wanted, but some part of him knew it was a bad idea to give it to them.

"Okay guys, on the count of three, make for the door behind us."

"That's it?" Jake hissed, "Hope they don't catch us?"

"Well my mind's open to suggestions right about now."

"Never mind."

The others nodded and tried to not make any sudden movements.

"Okay then. One, two, THREE!'

The five of them turned around and made for the door, with Ray stopping only briefly to take the tiny device off the giant box. Within seconds they were out the door, but unfortunately, so were the robots. And they were gaining.

_Okay Ray, think. You've got what they want, and you're closest to them. This m__ight be the stupidest plan I've come up with._

"JAKE!" he called out to the football player, "GO LONG!"

Jake understood immediately and began running backwards. Knowing he only had seconds to spare, Ray hurled the device as far as he could, and relieved to see Jake catch it as he ran. But Ray's relief was short lived as three of the robots tackled him as the rest followed his friends.

Johnny was the next on to be caught. As he tried to divert from the others, three of the robots surrounded him, blocking any escape. The first one dived at him, forcing him to jump to the side, right in the path of the second robot, whose kick knocked him to the ground. Looking up, Johnny barely managed to move before the thirds robots knee crashed into the ground next to him. Completely surrounded, Johnny thought it was over. And that was when everything suddenly slowed down. One of the robots, in some sort of fighting pose, was floating in the air, while the two on either side of him looked almost frozen. Johnny shifted his stance to counter before he realized something different. He was moving like normal. Taking advantage of this, Johnny leapt up and dragged the airborne robot to the ground, before running back and forth between the three of them, taking as many potshots as he could. He gave himself a second pause, and that was all he needed. Suddenly, everything moved like normal, the three robots slumped down on the ground, defeated.

Hilary on the other hand, was having more difficulty. Unlike Johnny, she didn't have the advantage of martial arts training, and was spending more time dodging the robots attacks. Thinking quickly, she rolled over the cement pipe behind her, giving her a few moments before the robots ran around to meet her, realizing she was now cornered, she deflected the first to blows with her forearms, and instinctively twisted the arm of the third one into an arm bar, before kicking the second in the side. Suddenly, she saw the first robot run at her what looked like a sword. Forced to let go of the Bot she was holding, she raised up her arms to try and soften the blow. But the blow never came, or at least she never felt it. All she heard was a loud metallic **thunk**, and as she looked again, she saw that her arm was suddenly metallic. Slowly, the metallic substance covered her body until it concealed all her skin.  
>"Well I guess that it's fair play now," she smiled, noting a metallic ring to her voice.<br>She reached back with her free arm, before shooting it forward, slamming her fist into the Robots stomach and sending it flying. The other two barely had time to react before Hilary grabbed them and forced them to follow their comrade.

Meanwhile, Ben was backed against a wall. He tried putting into practice all the martial arts moves that Ray had shown him over years, but none of it seemed to make sense. Two of the robots grabbed him and tried to slam him into the wall, but at the last second, Ben raised his feet, and bending his knees against the wall. Using all of his might, he pushed out, throwing the robots off of him. But to his surprise, he didn't fall down. In fact, he didn't even feel like he was on his side. It felt like he was standing on normal, horizontal ground, but instead, he was standing on a wall, with three very confused robots staring at him.  
>"Surprised?" he laughed as he taunted the robots, "Well so am I."<br>The robot charged at him, but all he had to do was swiftly step backwards and they smashed into the wall. Taking the opportunity, he took half a step forwards and kneed one in the face, before kicking the next one. Finally, Ben turned around and jumped backwards, doing a back-salt before landing on his feet behind the last remaining robot.  
>"And that's how it's done," he laughed as he kicked the robot square in the stomach, sending it crashing into the wall.<p>

Jake ran as fast as he could, like he had the ball with seconds to go, and the only way to win was one more touch down. He knew that the robots had caught up to his friends; he just had to hope they could take care of themselves. Ray had given the device to him, and he was not going to give it up. But just as he thought he might lose them, he caught his foot on a stray piece of metal, and tripped over. Lying chest down on the ground, he gripped the devise close to him. He could hear to footsteps of the robots arriving behind him.  
>"You will suffer the consequences for defying our Lord Gideon!" one of them wizzed, and raised its arm to strike Jake. Acting out of instinct and fear, Jake flipped over in the dirt and struck out his own hand, hoping to block the incoming blow. But suddenly, he felt as if something was flowing in his hand, and the second he fully extended his arm, a large wave of force shot out from his palm, sending the robots flying backwards.<p>

_Dammit__ Jake! _He told himself,_ got to get off the ground!_

Meanwhile, back towards the factory, Ray was still on the ground. He rolled over and jumped upwards, landing in a perfect fighting stance that he'd often had to use at training. The robots didn't waste any time, and weren't afraid to get up close. Ray had to resort to a lot of elbow and fist strike just to keep them off him. Suddenly one of them grabbed his fist and twisted his arm backwards, forcing him into a painful joint lock. But before he could perform a counter, he saw one of them running at him with a long blade. Knowing he didn't have much time, Ray stared intently at the charging robot, hoping he could strike it before it gutted him. Suddenly, he saw a flash of red, and suddenly the robot was lying on the ground with a hole in its chest. Noticing the other robots sudden distraction, Ray stamped down on its foot and flipped it over his shoulder, giving himself enough time to get some distance between himself and his attackers.  
>Confused, Ray looked over at the smoldering wreck of the robot.<p>

_Now there's just no way…  
><em>He thought back to the flash of red that he saw before a gapping, burning hole appeared right at the point he was looking at. Was it possible…?  
>Why not? <em>Here goes nothing.<br>_Ray looked at the remaining two robots and focused on them. Once again the flash of red appeared, and this time Ray swore he could see twin red beams land in both the Robots. Like their partner, the stumbled down to the ground, smoking.

"RAY!"

He looked behind him to see the others coming towards him.

"Did that just happen?" Hilary asked in shock

"The evil killer robots or the super powers?" Ben retorted, as surprised as his sister.

"Take your pick."

"How did we just do that?" Johnny asked, "I mean… did we just…?"

"Adrenaline rush." Hilary puffed, trying to rationalize the situation, "our brains didn't have time to take in what happened so it filled in the blanks. It would also explain how we managed to take them out."

"What is that thing?" Ray asked Jake as he saw he saw still holding the device.

"I have a better question," Ben decided before Ray could even begin to come up with an answer, "what was with the evil killer robots?"

"They're called Byte-Bots." Said a voice behind them.

The five teens spun around to see a tall man, who couldn't have been older than forty, standing behind them. He was wearing a brown shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and tucked into his jeans, while his small glasses framed his face along with his neatly combed black hair.

"What?" Ray asked, confused as ever.

"I said they're called Byte-Bots." Repeated the man, "I'm sorry I got here so late. My name is Dr. Samuel Benson. I know this has probably been a really weird night for you but you have to believe me on this. I need you all to come with me, it's not safe here."

***_Data Squad*_**

"So am I the only one suspicious of the strange man showing us his bat-cave?"

"Jake, it's a warehouse."

"Even still dude, how do we know that his desk doesn't slide away to a secret cave?"

Ray just sighed; he wasn't in the mood to deal with Jake's conspiracy theories. At the moment, he just wanted answers. Benson had taken them to a warehouse not far from the factory district. For such a big place, it was almost empty, bar a small wooden desk, what looked like a large generator next to the wall, and some stairs leading up to a loft where Ray supposed Benson slept.

Benson moved over to a large generator and plugged the device into it. Suddenly, the device came to life, and along with the rest of the machine, began whirring and flashing.

"What is that thing?" asked Johnny

"The device you gave me is called a Digitizer; it's basically a huge data decoder and file converter." He said before pointing at the generator underneath. "And this thing is basically a giant transformer, providing it with power."

"Why would someone send those Byte-Bot things to collect a file converter?" Hilary asked, but Benson just shook his head.

"Believe me," he told them, "this is really dangerous. For your own sake, the less mixed up in this you get, the better."

The five teens stared at him. After what they had just done, he was telling them to get out?

"But we had to fight those things…" Ben began before Benson cut him off.

"Look, I'm sorry that you got mixed up in this, really, I am, but believe me, if you get out now, you can't get hurt."

Hilary looked like she was going to pummel him. Ray didn't blame her. But there was one thing he still wanted to know, what was with their powers?

He was about to ask when Ben put his hand on his shoulder, giving him a look that said, _"don't bother"._

He was probably right; they weren't going to get any answers from this guy.

"Once again, thank you for saving the Digitizer. Feel free to come back if you have any problems. It's for your own good guys."

The teens just sighed and then walked out the door. Benson watched onwards as each of them, looking sad and confused left the warehouse. Just as he was leaving, Ray turned around, as if wanted to ask another question, but simply shook his head and follows with friends outside.

"Sorry guys," Benson said quietly as the Ray shut the door behind him, "but it's for the best."

And with that he booted up his computer and made sure the digitizer was working.

"Now let's see if I can get you to work." He said as the words **"Project Data Squad"** appeared on the screen.

**Next Time: **Our heroes delve even deeper into the mysterious Dr. Benson and the reason behind their newfound super powers. But with Gideon closing in, will they discover the answers before it's too late? **Coming Soon: **Boot It Up Part 2


	2. Boot It Up Part 2

_**Boot It Up Part 2**_

"So it appears that your Byte Bots have failed Kelgar." Hissed Gideon as he looked down at his two subordinates; "I should have known not to put such an important task into the hands of mere…foot soldiers."

"It appears that way sir; they experienced some unexpected resistance." Kelgar replied. Unlike Corax, who was designed to be a warrior, Kelgar most certainly was not. He was shorter than both his comrade and Gideon, and looked like a squat turtle. His face however was more reptilian, with two horns protruding from his forehead.

"I don't want to hear you excuses," he spat, "Benson now has the digitizer, and is now the only thing standing in our way!"

Kelgar stood in front of his master, head bowed. He had failed, causing a major setback, one that could quite possibly cost them quite dearly.

"My lord if I may?" enquired Corax

"Go ahead Corax." Sighed Gideon as he slumped down on his throne.

"What ever this resistance is that the Byte Bots encountered, I would like to discover for myself. I would like you to give me a chance to see if they could become a threat."

"Is that all?"

"No, for I will not destroy them. Instead, my attack will likely cause them to run to the only person who could provide help and as a result, direct us towards our enemy, Dr. Samuel Benson."

Gideon paused to digest his servants plan. It certainly was a good one, and if it was necessary to eliminate these new comers, then they would know for certain.

"Alright Corax, I'll allow it."

"Thank you my lord, I will prepare at once."

Corax swiftly left the room leaving Kelgar alone with Gideon.

"Well it looks like I still may have some use for you after all." Gideon grinned, a plan formulating in his head.

"What would you have me do master?"

"I need a virus, a strong one. We're going to give our good friend Dr. Benson a little visit."

**_*Data Squad*_**

As Ray closed his locker the next afternoon, he found Hilary waiting for him, leaning against a locker. She was wearing her hair down, and wearing a small grey cardigan over a bright yellow undershirt.

"Last night wasn't a dream was it?" she asked him, and Ray couldn't help but notice a slight desperate sound of hope in her voice.

"Unfortunately no," Ray conceded, although he'd had the worry all day. It was late by the time he'd gotten home, so late that his father had gone straight to bed, and was so exhausted that he'd fallen asleep the second he'd hit the pillow. He'd been secretly hoping that the previous night had all been one weird yet strangely detailed dream.

"I could have told you that," Ben told Ray as he leaned against the locker on the other side of Hilary, "How loud did you scream when you tested your powers in front of the mirror this morning?"

"My parents now think that I'm scared of mice," groaned the blonde, causing some form of amusement Ben. While Hilary wasn't known for being fearless, she was certainly not scared of rodents.

"Well why don't you tell him about my response when I found you hanging upside down from the ceiling," Hilary enquired as they began to walk out of the main building.

"I can only hear out of one ear right now," he replied bashfully, as the two of them were joined by Jake and Johnny.

"I had weirdest dream last night," Jake decided before pointing at Ray, Hilary and Ben individually, "And you were there, and you were there, and you were there."

"Sorry to tell you dude," Ray told him, "but it wasn't a dream."

"So we really do have," began Johnny before lowering his voice after everyone shushed him, "superpowers?"

All four of them nodded, they'd left school grounds now, and were approaching an alleyway that lead to The Art House.

"Well don't you think we should have told that Benson guy about them?" Jake asked, "I mean he seemed to know about what was going on."

"Yeah," agreed Johnny sarcastically, "and had a whole bunch of creepy equipment to go with it."

"Johnny's right," Hilary agreed, "he might just want to study us to find out where those powers came from."

"Either way," Ray decided, "I don't think we shouldn't tell anyone until we know more about the Benson guy."

Suddenly there was a flash of green light, before them were as many Byte-Bots as the night before, completely blocking the alleyway. But it was the figure with them that made the group tense. It appeared to be a man in some sort of Grey combat armor, with what looked like a matching Motocross helmet that had an blue visor to conceal the figures identity.

"I believe I can help you with that," he laughed in a deep, resonating voice.

"Okay, what's with the Space Marine?" Hilary asked carefully

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that he's here for us." Ray decided, none of them averting their gaze from the Byte-Bots.

"You pay dearly for crossing my master," the armored man chuckled again before turning to the Byte-Bots, "Attack!"

As the Byte-Bots charged forward the teens didn't waste any time. They immediately split up, forcing the Byte-Bots to choose targets. Ray jumped up and delivered a strong tornado kick into the first Byte-Bot, knocking it off balance, before landing in a perfect fighting stance and blocked the incoming blows from the remaining two Byte-Bots. With the two bots up close, Ray lashed out with his elbows, striking the first one in the head, and pushing the other one backwards. Moving away from them so they were all in a line, Ray stepped inwards and produced a devastating side-kick, knocking them all into each other and into the adjacent wall.

Jake and Ben fought back to back, fending off the Byte-Bots attacks as they came at them one by one. Then, just as the Byte-Bots looked like they were gaining the advantage, the duo charged forward. Jake rolled under the first Bot and swung out his leg in a sweeping motion, tripping one over. As he jumped to his feet, he kicked out at the one in front of him, and as one tried to grab him from behind, Jake grabbed its arm, flipping it over his back and sent it crashing into the ground. Ben on the other hand, rolled over a nearby crate to get him some distance. Spotting a shopping cart between himself and the approaching Byte-Bots, he kicked it forward, slamming into one of the Bots, causing it fall into it headfirst. Ben then ran forward, planting his hands on the side of the trolley as he did so, then jumped up to kick the bots, before landing and swinging the trolley across, smacking the bots to the side.

Moving with the speed he was used to, Johnny ducked and weaved between the bots. As he stopped to turn around, one of the bots took a swing at him, but he intercepted it in mid air before twisting the Bots limb into an arm bar. Seeing a Byte-Bot come up behind him, he shot his leg backward, hitting it square in the stomach and causing it to double over. Then still holding onto the Byte-Bot, he spun around, releasing it at just the right moment to send it hurling into its comrades.

The Byte Bot's tried to grab hold of Hilary, but she managed to shake them every time. Striking downwards, she hit the Byte-Bot in the crotch, before moving her hand up and around its head to introduce its face to her knee. Turning around to see that the other two had caught up to her, she spun around, smashing her heel into the head of the first Byte Bot, before stepping forward and swinging her first into the second and then kicking out her leg, pushing the Bot to the ground.

With the Byte Bots defeated, the teens regrouped and stared down the armored warrior.  
>"Just because you have defeated feeble Byte-Bots does not mean you can defeat me!" He roared as he pulled out two circular pistols and fired them at the teens. They dived out of the way just in time, and the two shots exploded as they hit the ground behind them.<p>

"Two can play at that game!" Ray called out as he got to his feet and fire two laser bolts from his eyes. The twin beams hit the armored man straight in the chest, giving the others their opportunity. Johnny and Ben shot forwards, Johnny with his super speed and Ben running along the walls. Johnny naturally arrived first, whacking his foot just behind the warrior's knees, while Ben jumped off the wall and tackled him to the ground.

"Foolish boy!' The warrior laughed as he jumped to his feet and pulled out twin pronged punch blade. He brought the blade downward, but at the last second, Hilary ran in front of her brother and activated her metal form, blocking the blow with her arm.  
>"What?" yelled the warrior in surprise, but it was too late. Hilary knocked the blade to one side stepping around the warrior and throwing him towards Jake, who sent forth a telekinetic strike and sent the warrior flying in the other direction. The teens ran together as the warrior crashed into the ground.<p>

"Had enough yet?" Ray taunted as the Byte Bots ran behind the warrior.

"You may have one this time," the armored man told them, "But the next time you meet the mighty Corax in battle, it will be your last!"

And with that, he and the Byte-Bots disappeared in another flash of green light.

The five of them looked at each other, not sure what to do.

"What just happened?" Hilary asked

"I think we just fought off a bunch of killer robots," Jake decided, "again."

"And what was with the Corax guy?" Ben asked, "I mean, he could have skewered me."

"Two killer robot attacks in two days?" Johnny commented, "This isn't a coincidence. I think we've seriously pissed someone off."

Ray was silent, knowing Johnny was right. Whatever it was that they stumbled across the night before, they were now in the thick of it. And it wasn't waiting for them to go to it.

"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm sick of wondering what's going on." He told them. "I think we need to pay the good doctor a visit.

**_*Data Squad*_**

"HEY!" Johnny called out as he slammed open the door of the warehouse, "What's up Doc?"

At first the warehouse looked devoid of people, but after a few seconds, they all saw Benson's head pop up from under his desk.

"What's wrong?" He asked them suspiciously, "I thought I told you guys everything you all needed to know last night."

"Yeah?" questioned Ben, "but you avoided telling us why they were after that digitizer thing. And that they'd keep coming after us."

Benson's face turned from a look of annoyance to serious concern.

"What?"

"Some guy called Corax showed up with a whole lot of those Byte-Bot things," Ray told him, "and then they tried to take us out."

"Corax?" Benson asked, and Ray could that he was starting to put pieces together.

"And you didn't tell us that that thing over there would give us superpowers." Hilary continued irately, and Ray knew why. If there was anything that Hilary hated, it was not knowing something.

"Wait," continued Benson, "Superpowers? What did you mean superpowers?"

"Oh nothing major," replied Jake sarcastically, "Hilary can just become metal, Johnny can move at super speed and Ray, well Ray can shoot laser beams out of his eyes!"

But Benson didn't seem to be paying attention, instead his was typing away at his computer.

"When did you first notice these powers?"

"When the Byte-Bots attacked us last night," Ray replied, confused, "right after the digitizer went off."

"Of course!" Benson cried out, "situated next to the pulse they would only assimilate what came into their bodies and any excess would simply dissipate! Why didn't I see that before?"

The five teens all looked at him, confused.

"Umm," began Ben, "What?"

Benson looked up from his computer, clearly embarrassed about his outburst.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I know I didn't want to get you guys mixed up in this, but from the sounds of things you already are. You better take seat; it's abit of a long story."

**_*Data Squad*_**

"My Lord," Kelgar called out joyfully, "I have traced the children's energy signals, and as we suspected, they ran straight to Dr. Benson. We're preparing for an assault now."

"Excellent," Gideon replied as he gave a sinister smile, "it would have been quite embarrassing if Corax's plan had failed."

"I can assure you my lord," Corax responded defensively, "a group of insolent children are hardly a challenge for a warrior of my caliber."

"Good," Gideon laughed, "then you'll have no problem at all taking some Byte-Bots down and Kelgar's new virus to destroy them all."

"Of course not my master." Corax replied as he began to leave the room and prepare for the assault.

"And Corax," Gideon comment, "no mistakes this time."

"Of course my lord," Corax nodded his head and swiftly left the room

_I'm going to enjoy this,_ he thought to himself, _very much indeed._

They all sat down behind the desk, Hilary and Jake we're both sitting on the only two chairs in the building, so the rest had to make do. Ben was sitting cross legged on the floor; Johnny was leaning against the desk, while Ray was standing behind them, arms folded.

"Well I guess the best place to start would be at the beginning." Benson sighed. Looking at him, Ray realized that this was not going to be easy for him.

"As you know, my name is Dr. Samuel Benson, I graduated MIT with a major in Software Engineering and a minor in Quantum Mechanics. I graduated my undergrad with Honors and then went on to do my PhD in the same field. I began work in smalltime software companies, eventually working in the Silicon Valley."

"About four years ago, I was contacted by a military contractor. They wanted me for a military project that was trying to invent a way to easily store equipment for transportation purposes. In the end we discovered a way to transfer all the matter into data, and then be able to store it."

"Sounds pretty cool, how come it was never released? Still working on the bugs?" asked Hilary. She loved computers

"Not exactly. Before long, some people began to wonder if the reverse was also possible. Create an object through a computer, and then use the same device to bring it in to reality. Results were varied, as if parts of the code was missing in any of the physical details, the computer would fill in the blanks. We managed to make it work because we found a grid of energy, like nothing anyone had ever seen before, running although the earth. We managed to tap into that energy in order to make the De-Digitizing process work. Eventually this lead to the creation of a new super soldier project, where suits would be created on a database and then use the digitizer to create the suit in real life."

"But in the end it was only a matter of time before people started getting ideas. A young developer named Gideon snuck into the chamber one night and, using coding that he had already programmed, gave himself and two others unbelievable powers, and turned the two with him into his slaves."

Hilary gasped and Jake tensed up. _Wow_, thought Ray, _so that psycho that we fought earlier is just a slave, I'd hate to meet his master._

"The trio trashed the base, stealing or destroying most of the equipment. After that there was nothing much left to do, the project was shut down, and no one has been able to find Gideon since."

"So what was with the digitizer?" Asked Ray, "If Gideon has one already, why does he want that one so much?"

"When the project shut down, my associate, Dr. Trey Meyers, and I managed to salvage one of the three prototypes that was built. I know one was destroyed in the sacking of the base, and Gideon has the other. We agreed to keep it safe for as long as we could or until we figured out a way to take Gideon down that didn't involve a full scale war. A week ago, Trey sent me a letter saying that Gideon was on to him, and gave my codes to access the Digitizer remotely. From what I understand, Gideon caught up with him later. I think Gideon wants this Digitizer so that it can't be used against him. With the blueprints and the other prototype destroyed, nothing would stand in his way."

"Wait a second," Hilary asked, "in the way of what?"

"Gideon was never one for original thoughts," Benson told them, "he wants what any super villain wants, to control the world."

"Okay," said Johnny, he was getting impatient, "so what has this got to do with us?"

"Last night I managed to hack into the Digitizers frequency using the codes Dr. Meyers gave me, but I wasn't able to pin point its location unless I remotely activated it and waited for it to "pulse", basically release all of its potent digital energy, and that sudden spike of power would let me discover its location and retrieve it before Gideon got it."

"The only thing I didn't consider was five teenagers such as yourselves discovering the generator just seconds before it "pulsed", absorbing some of the digital energy into your bodies. That's where those powers have come from, your bodies had to realign themselves to this new energy, and so in order to do that, it had to change something, so I a way, guess your bodies mutated into these new powers."

"So they're permanent?" Ben asked

"Looks like it." Nodded Benson

But before they could continue their conversation, a loud explosion outside shook the warehouse.

"No not yet!" Benson called out as he dived for his computer and began punching away at the keys. An alarm began to blare throughout then warehouse. The five teens gathered around the desk as some of Benson's screens came to life, showing a security camera outside. From the camera, the teens could see Corax marching towards the warehouse, with an army of Byte-Bots and a strange creature that looked like a giant Lizard with a cat's head.

"Look's like our creepy astronaut buddy's back," Jake commented as he saw what was going on, "but what's with his ugly friend."

"Remember how I said that things created on a computer could be brought into the physical world with the digitizer?" Benson asked, "It works with anything, that thing there is a computer virus."

"Okay," Hilary decided, "Ben remind me to update my PC security when we get home."

"That's assuming we get home." Ben replied solemnly.

"He's right," Benson replied, "there's no way out. Gideon thinks that you're a threat to him, they're not just going to let you go once they have what they want."

"So we're dead?" Johnny stated angrily

"No, I can put up a firewall around the warehouse; any physical data file that I don't like won't be able to get within fifty feet of this place."

"Well what are ylou waiting for?" Jake demanded, "Go, Go, GO!"

"It's not that simple," Benson replied, as he started fishing through his draws, "it's going to take ten minutes to properly load up the firewall."

"Yeah well the way things are looking, we don't have ten minutes." Ray replied.

"I know," said Benson as he pulled a small box out of the drawer and placed it on the desk in front of them, "that's why I need your help. Currently, even with your superpowers, you wouldn't stand a chance against that many Byte-Bots. But with these, the fight will be a little more even."

He opened the box to reveal five small rectangular devices, each looking like a slide phone, and each one had a different color, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Green.

"What are they?" Ray asked

"These are the Prototypes of the Data Morphers," Benson told them, "you can use these to transform into Power Rangers."

"Power Rangers?" Ray asked in disbelief. He knew that what was going on was weird, but this?

"Whoa okay," Jake decide, "I'm freaking out here."

"But if you have working Morphers, why haven't you used them against Gideon yet?"

"I haven't gotten them to work before," Benson admitted, "in order for these to properly work, they need to have what's called a Bio-Digital Field surrounding your body. We could never get the right amount around a person before, until last night. That's what's giving you your superpowers, and why these will work for you."

But they were all unsure. Of course they wanted answers, but this was way above what they were expecting. Them? Power Rangers?

Benson looked at them all, the case still open.

"Look guys, I know this is a lot to take in. And I know I didn't want to get you involved at first, but it looks like I have no choice. You're the only ones who can use these powers. You may all feel small and insignificant in such a big world, but now you're its only hope. You're my only hope. If Gideon get's a hold of the digitizer, it's over."

Ray stared down at the case. All his life, he'd just been willing to be the guy no one noticed. He never fell into any definition of high school stereotypes, he just was. He was the Nobody. And staring right in front of him was chance to be somebody, to make a difference. Ray took a look at the screen. The army was nearly there, and if they didn't do something, they'd be killed anyway. They could figure the rest out later.

"Let's do it," he said as he picked up one for the Morphers and headed for the doors, after a brief moment, he heard his friends doing the same.

"Just call out the words "Data Squad Digitize" and the Morphers will do the rest!" Benson called out to them, "I just need ten minutes."

_If we have ten minutes that is,_ Ray though has he walked out the door.

**_*Data Squad*_**

Corax grinned beneath his visor as the Byte-Bots stopped in front of the warehouse.

_Soon nothing will stand in our way, and Lord Gideon will be able to complete his plan._

Beside him, the virus was getting restless.

"Come on," it exclaimed, "when do I get a piece of the action?"

"All in good time," Corax explained, "you're simply here as insurance."

He looked at the warehouse again, and then looked over at the Byte-Bots.

"Destroy all inside," he commanded and at the mighty warrior's word, the Byte-Bots charged forward. But before they'd made any ground at all, two red laser beams shot out from the darkness and destroyed two of the Byte-Bots, stopping the others in their tracks. Corax barely had anytime to berate the cowardly robots before he saw five figures emerge from the darkness and stand in front of the horde.

"Thought we'd come join the party," Ray chuckled nervously as he stared down the mass of killer robots. "Hope we're not too late."

"Not at all," Corax chuckled as he eyed the five teens standing in front of him, "we were just wondering when you would make an appearance. I will enjoy tearing you all limb from limb."

Ray looked over at his friends, each nervously gripping a different colored Morpher. This was their moment, now or never.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Ray smiled as he stepped forward and held up his Morpher, "you guys ready?"

"Ready!" they replied as they stepped up next to him and held their Morphers with his.

"DATA SQUAD! DIGITZE!" they all called out as their bodies moved in unison. As they pressed the activation buttons on the strange devices, a burst of light erupted from the Morphers, bathing the teens in energy. Ray could feel something forming over his body, skin tight but as comfortable as a perfectly fitting second skin. He couldn't recall a time where he'd felt so alive, so strong, so ready to take on anything. As he felt the suit settle on his body he sudden sensed something behind to close around his head, covering all of his face except for his eyes, where a grey visor slid down in front of them with lightning speed and sealing the helmet shut.

The light faded, and Ray looked down at the red suit that he was now wearing. White boots covered the lower parts of his legs, stopping in the center of his calf, while matching gloves finished halfway between his wrist and his elbow. Thin black lines traced the outline of his body, all meeting at the yellow trapezoid in the middle of his chest. Finally, a white belt and a large buckle sat comfortable at his waist, with his morpher now resting in a small pouch on left side of his waist. On the other side was a pistol sitting in a small holster. He looked over at the others, each helmet slightly different, but all having the same suit individually colored suit. Johnny's was black, Jakes was Green, Ben's was blue and Hilary's was Yellow and had an added skirt.

"Whoa it worked!" Ray heard Ben exclaim as they all jumped for joy and looked at their new suits.

"I don't believe it!" agreed Hilary.

"Yeah way to go!" Jake cheered.

"So what do you say Robo-Boy?" Ray taunted as he gave a wicked smile beneath his visor and turned towards the Byte-Bots. "Ready to Rumble?"

"Your flashy new clothing does not faze me," Corax retorted, "rangers or not you will all fall before our masters might! Byte Bots! Get them!"

And with that, the Byte-Bots charged.

"**Pull out your Morphers and call out your weapons!" **ray heard a voice say in his ear, and he realized that it was Benson communicating with them through their suits, **"The suits will do the rest!"**

"Right!" They agreed as they each pulled their Morphers out from their suits, "Weapons mode! Activate!"

Each Morpher suddenly glowed in its rangers hand, before shooting out a small beam of light. When the light disappeared, a large weapon, each differently colored for its rangers, appeared in their hands.

"Alright!" Ray cheered as he held a large sword with a bright red hilt in his hands, "I got a Lion Sword!"  
>"Looks like it's time to sort things out," Johnny laughed as he gripped his new black staff between his fists, "Wolf Staff!"<br>"Time to cut through some bots," chuckled Jake as he held his large green single bladed axe up high, "Eagle Axe!"  
>"These are so cool," Hilary grinned as she spun two yellow daggers in her hands, "Tiger Blades!"<br>"And I hate to hammer the point," finished Ben, "But I got a bear Hammer!"

"Well Guys," said Ray as he turned to the oncoming Byte-Bots, "We better not keep them waiting."

"Right!"

The rangers bolted forward, each with a speed an ferocity that they'd never experienced. Ray met his group first and immediately jumped up and spun in the air, bringing his leg down, crashing into the first Byte-bot and forcing it to the ground. Not wasting any time, he then used his momentum to bring his sword around, slashing across the chest of two Byte-Bots, and then landed in a stance ready to take on the rest.  
>"Want some more?" he laughed as he saw the Byte-Bots continuing towards him, "You're funeral."<br>He charged at them again, swinging his sword around and taking out two others like he had previously. Seeing a Bot next to him about to come at him with a sword, he brought his own blade up, bracing it with his hand, and easily intercepted the blow, before pushing the blade away and smashing the bots head with his Elbow.

Hilary gracefully ducked and weaved between the Byte Bots, blocking all of their attacks with her Sais. All of a sudden, she saw an opening, and viciously slashed at a nearby Byte-Bot with her Sais. She turned around in time to see another Bot come at her with a sword, but she bent backwards with extreme flexibility to let the attack sore over her, before jumping up and flipping backwards to uppercut the Byte-Bot with her feet. Landing on her hands, she spun around to face the opposite direction, jumping back onto her feet as she did so, just in time to block another attack from a Byte-Bot by creating an X over her head with her Sais. Shifting her body weight, she threw the bot off of her before rapidly attacking the bots abdomen with her blades.

Meanwhile, Jake was starting to get cornered. He didn't have the experience of Ray and Johnny, or the natural agility of Ben and Hilary. He swung his axe upwards, sending one of the Byte Bots flying. Jumping backwards, the byte Bots all flanked around him, cutting off his escape. Jake looked around for an escape route and saw what he needed. As the next Byte bot leaped forward, Jake stepped backwards, swinging his axe around to knock the Byte-Bot back. Continuing his momentum, he swung around and buried his axe into a nearby barrel, before spinning around to send the barrel flying into his enemies. Charging forwards, he leaped into the air and brought his big green axe down on the last Byte-Bot, slicing it in two before landing on the ground in front of the bots mangled heap.

Swinging his staff over his head, Johnny brought the end downwards, sending the shaft crashing into the Byte-Bots shoulder. Sensing an attack behind him, he thrust the end of his staff backwards, ramming the bot in the stomach. Then, just as the next Bot was preparing to strike, Johnny stuck his staff into the ground, levering himself into the air and shunting his feet into the bot. Landing on his feet, he flipped up the staff, blocking the next incoming attack. With all his might he spun around and swung the staff under the Byte-Bots legs.  
>"How are you doing?" he laughed as knocked out the robots legs "Meet my chief of staff."<p>

Ben rocketed towards the Bytes Bots, using the enhanced abilities of his ranger suit to knock the robots back.  
>"Come On!" he called out, "Is that all you've got?"<br>The Bots lunged in response to Ben's taunt. But the blue ranger was ready for them. Just as the Bots were about to pile on him, he smacked the slammed the hammer into the ground, sending out a shockwave that sent the Byte Bots flying. Ben then leapt into the air, knocking down each bot with his limbs and his hammer, until all that was left was a pile of broken robots.

Landing safely on the ground, Ben ran back to hold the ground with the rest of the rangers.

"So Corax," Ray taunted, much more confident in his new Bright Red Ranger suit, "ready to leave yet?"

"Not by a long shot!" Corax spat back as he turned to the virus that still stood by him, "Felisaur, it's your turn."

"With pleasure!" the virus laughed, "Hope you like hair balls!"

The virus lifted its head, and before the rangers could react, flaming balls shot out of its mouth. The balls shot towards the teens, exploding at their feet and sending the rangers flying backwards.

"Man that thing's tough." Ben huffed as they got to their feet.

"There's got to be a way to take that thing down." Ray decided and pulled his Morpher from his belt, "got any ideas Doc?"

"**I do,"** came the reply through their helmets, **"combine your weapons, that'll take it out."**

Ray looked down at the large red sword in his hand, then at his team mates weapons, then suddenly, without even knowing how, he knew how it would work.

"Okay guys," he called out, as his teammates began to have the same revelation, "let's put it together!"

"YEAH!"

They all moved together in perfect unity as they began to combine their weapons.

Bean's Axe formed the base, the handle pointing outwards, while Jake's Eagle Axe slid perfectly underneath. Hilary then inserted her Sais into the side of the hammer, forming hand grips for them to hold, before Johnny folded his staff around the outside of the weapon. Finally, Ray moved in, sliding the hilt of his sword into the hammer, while the blade pointed outwards towards the monster.

"Data Blaster!" They called out as they finished the weapon and crowded around it to support it. "Armed and Ready!"

"What!" exclaimed Corax as he and the virus faced down the cannon

"Time to fire this baby up!" Hilary decided

"And send them running for good," agreed Jake.

"Too right guys!" Ray confirmed

"Data Blaster!" They all called out together as they pointed the Cannon the Virus and began to charge it. "Ready! Fire!"

The Data Blaster boomed as a blast of energy erupted from the ends of the combined weapons. The ball of energy rocketed forwards, not even giving the Virus a chance to move before it collided with its body, exploding on contact. Sparks began to fly from the wounded monster, causing it to lose its balance and fall. Suddenly, as the Gideon's abomination hit the ground, it exploded and giant fireball.

_***Data Squad***_

Corax roared in fury, before teleporting away in a flash of green light.

"Unacceptable!" Gideon snarled at Kelgar as he watched the virus get destroyed. "We cannot allow Benson to finish the Firewall! We must have that digitizer!"

"My Lord if I may," Said Corax as he entered the room, "These Power Rangers are quite formidable, I do not think an ordinary virus will be able to defeat them."

"But maybe this will," announced Kelgar as he tapped away on the computer, "I built this as per your plan My Lord, but I have never been able to test it."

Gideon gave a sinister smile, knowing exactly what Kelgar was talking about.  
>"Fire the Data Recovery Beam!"<p>

**_*Data Squad*_**

The rangers cheered. They'd beaten the Byte Bots, destroyed the Virus, and forced Corax to retreat, now all they had to do was stand guard for another two minutes while Benson Finished loading the Firewall. Then they would be in the clear, and be able to put it all behind them.

But before they could do continue their celebration, a jet of green light descended on the from the sky, illuminating the mangled heap of Felisaur.

"Guys," noted Jake, "What's happening?"

The remains of the virus began to react to the light, pulling itself back into a semblance of Felisaur.

"Dr. Benson?" Ray asked as he pulled out his morpher, "What's that thing doing to the virus?"

"**I have no idea," **came Bensons concerned reply, "**but at a guess I'd say it's some sort of rejuvenation beam."**

But before the rangers could continue to enquire. The beam disappeared, and standing before them was the virus that they'd just destroyed. Suddenly, the virus began to grow. Slowly at first, but more and more rapidly as Felisaur increased in size. Within seconds, the virus had grown from a few feet to eighty.

"How do you like me now Rangers?" it laughed as it towered over the teens.

"Guys Look out!" Ray yelled diving out of the way with his friends as Felisaur lifted its foot and tried to step on the rangers.

"Ray I don't dodging that thing is a good long term plan." Johnny advised as got to his feet.

"Not to mention if it turns on the fireworks again," agreed Hilary

Ray pulled out his Morpher and opened the com line in distress.

"Dr. Benson do you have a plan?"

"**Pull out your Morphers!" **Benson replied, and in the background Ray could hear frantic tapping on the keyboard. **"You can use them to summon your Zords!"**

"Right!"

The rangers stepped forwards morphers pointing forwards.

"Ranger Zords! Digitize!" They called out as they held their moprhers high in the air. Just as it had with their weapons, the Morphers began to glow. Suddenly, without any other warning, large mechanical animals burst forth from their Morphers and stood in front of them, await their pilots.

"Whoa now way!" Exclaimed Ben

"That's Awesome!" Jake called out

"These things rock!" Agreed Hilary

"Okay guys" Ray decided, "let's take this Guy down!"

"Yeah!"

The rangers leapt into the air, each landing in the cockpits of their zords. Ray gripped the throttle and thrust it forward, causing his large red lion to pounce ahead. Looking either side, he noticed that Hilary's yellow Tiger and Ben's Blue Bear had done the same things. There was a loud howl, and all of a sudden Johnny's Black wolf Zord leapt in front of them, and as Ray looked up, he could see Jake flying above them in his big Green Eagle.

"**Okay guys," **Benson told them, with a tone which Ray could only guess was Pride, "**All you've got to do now it bring them together!"**

"Right!"

Without any hesitation, the rangers began to combine their zords. Hilary's Tiger and Ben's Ben moved first, moving their heads up ninety degrees and shifting into legs. Next up was Ray's Lion, which leapt into the air, and landing perfectly and sliding its hind legs into the blue and yellow Zords. The Lion Zord then stood upwards, the Wolf and Eagle Zords latched into the front legs, creating mighty arms, while the wings of Jakes Eagle shifted into the combinations back, forming a shield. Suddenly, Ray felt his seat slide back and then shoot upwards, as the head of the lion began to move down over the chest. As it did so, a new, more human looking, head folded out from the Lions body, replacing the original head. At that moment, Ray's chair stopped moving, and as he looked around, he found himself sitting in a large control room, with his team mates at his side.

"Server Patrol Megazord!" They all called out, "Online!"

The new Megazord stepped forward defiantly to face off against the giant Virus.

"Your big robot doesn't scare me!" Felisaur roared at them, "Just get a tast of my furballs!"

As it did before, the virus spat out it explosive hairballs, slamming into the Megazord and causing it to stumble back.

"Ray I don't think we can take another hit like that!" Hilary called out as she looked over the Megazords condition.  
>Ray looked over the controls, before finding what they needed.<p>

"Terabyte Sabre!" the rangers called out a giant broadsword appeared in the megazords hand.

"It's time to take you down for good!" Ray called out as the rangers prepared their attack.

"Terabyte Sabre!" they all called out together as the Megazord Lunged forwards, "Delete!"

The Megazord charged at the Virus, barely giving it a chance to react before the rangers slashed with a mighty blow across they charged past. All Felisaur could do was scream as once again it fell over in a shower of sparks before disintegrating in the ensuring fireball.

**_*Data Squad*_**

"Incompetant!" Gideon Roared at his underlings. "Useless! Stupid!"

"We apologize master," Corax insisted as he and Kelgar humbly knelt at Gideon's Feet.

"You should Corax," Gideon spat, "It is due to your arrogance that the Power Rangers were able to aid Dr. Benson in the first place!"

Both underlings bowed their heads in shame. They had failed, and nothing would be able to convince Gideon that it was anything but their fault.

"The pair of you need to find me a solution," Gideon growled, "Or the Power Rangers will be the least of your fears."

And with that, Gideon turned his heels and swiftly turned his heels and left the room, leaving Corax and Kelgar to ponder their predicament.

**_*Data Squad*_**

"That was awesome!" Ben cheered as the five teenagers came back into the warehouse.

"Did you see us!" Jake exclaimed, "We tore those robots apart."

"And those Zords!" Agreed Hilary, "They were just amazing!"

"I don't think Gideon's going to be trying anything soon after what we just did to his forces!' Johnny decided.

Benson sighed as he looked at the triumphant teenagers. None of them had any idea what they had just gotten themselves into.

"If only," he said quietly. The rangers looked at him, confused.

"Dr. Benson what are you talking about?" Hilary asked

"Yeah we totally just kicked Gideon's butt." Smiled Jake.

But Benson just shook his head.

"Do you really think that Gideon's going to take this lying down?" he asked them, "now that Gideon knows where I am and what I can do with Digitizer he's going to stop at nothing to get me. And I mean nothing. I've got to get out of here before I put people in danger.

"What so you're just going to run?" Johnny demanded

"I don't have a chance," Benson replied sadly, "Gideon's going to through everything he's got at me. If I stay, a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt."

The kids looked stunned. After what they had just been through, they still hadn't really won?

Ray had been silent since they'd powered down. Unlike the others, he'd figured that this was only the beginning. He'd guessed that Gideon would escalate things now that there as a credible threat against him. And he knew what had to be done next.

"Stay," Ray told him, "let us help."

Benson looked up at the seventeen year old, stunned at what he was hearing.

"What?"

"you said yourself that we're the only ones who can use these powers. And Gideon's going to attack you wherever you go. Doesn't it make sense to stay where you have chance of defending people?"  
>"he's right," agreed Hilary, "besides, we're a threat to Gideon now. He could come after us anyway."<p>

"This is our home," Jake announced, "We want to defend it. Whatever it takes."

Benson nodded as he took all of it in. While he had expected the kids to take the Morphers to protect themselves, he hadn't expected them to want to keep them. For them to take on such a huge responsibility…

"You guys really want to do this?" he asked them, "once you decide there's no turning back."

Ray looked over at his friends. For so long they'd done everything together. And this was no different. They all looked at Ray, their faces told him what they wanted.

"We're in." he told him, "For better or for worst."

**Next Time: **The rangers have always looked up to Ray, but when Gideon's new virus proves tougher than the rangers expected, will Ray be able to pull through and lead his friends to victory. **Coming Soon:** The Importance of Being Ray

**A/N: **So what did people think? I'm trying to improve the story and want to update on a regular basis. But to do that I need people's help. I want to know what people like, what I can improve on. Please Review so I can make this story as best as I possibly can.


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